News
Telefonica to focus on data and new products after Cesky Telecom takeover
The Spanish telecoms company Telefonica which took over the Czech dominant landline operator Cesky Telecom this month says it will focus on data services and introducing new services and products to boost growth at Cesky Telecom. The company's new CEO Jaime Smith said after his appointment was announced on Thursday that his aim was to increase the growth and vitality of this group and to become more customer-oriented, introduce innovation and improve efficiency. Telefonica says it wants to speed up the integration of Cesky Telecom into the Spanish group. The outgoing CEO of Cesky Telecom, Gabriel Berdar admitted last week that there was more still to be done on the customer care side.
Extension of Kulinsky's custody unconstitutional - court
The Constitutional Court has ruled that the extension of custody of Bohumil Kulinsky, the leader of the world-famous Bambini di Praga children's choir was in breech of the Czech Constitution. Mr Kulinsky was charged with sexual abuse of underage girls last autumn and he has been in custody since November 25. A Prague district court ordered an extension of Mr Kulinsky's custody in February to prevent him from influencing witnesses. The court pointed to his attempt to contact certain girls before the charges were announced. According to the Constitutional Court Mr Kulinsky will probably be able to seek compensation for his detention as of February.
Aircraft Industries to buy bankrupt Letecke zavody Kunovice
The bankrupt aircraft producer Letecke zavody Kunovice will be acquired by Czech company Aircraft Industries, creditors of Letecke decided on Monday. Aircraft Industries was the sole bidder which advanced to the second round of a tender for Letecke zavody. The receiver did not disclose the price. In its bid, Aircraft Industries said its ambition was to secure long-term dominant position for Letecke in the production, repair, modernisation and provision of comprehensive logistics services for the aircraft L 410/L 420 and gliders, as well as for further promising programmes of the Czech aircraft industry.
Czech lorry driver caught smuggling heroin to Hungary
A Czech lorry driver has been arrested in Hungary on suspicion of drug trafficking after Hungarian customs officers uncovered heroin worth about 7.5 million US dollars in his lorry. The drugs were reportedly being transported from Turkey to the Czech Republic. Almost a hundred kilograms of heroin was found in packets hidden in a shipment of clothes, a spokesman for the Hungarian customs authority said. The officers uncovered the drugs using an X-ray scanner at a Romanian-Hungarian border crossing, 240 km south-west of Budapest.
One child in every hundred has to repeat a school grade
Several thousand Czech children fail at least one subject at the end of each school year and have to resit their exams in the summer, the Institute for Information on Education said on Monday. Those who fail again, have to repeat the whole year. There are around one percent of such children at primary schools every year, the institute said. Those children most often repeat the first, sixth and seventh grades. The system is opposed by some experts who say it is outdated and discouraging for children with learning difficulties.
Weather
The next few days are expected to be bright and sunny with daytime temperatures just below 30 degrees Celsius.
